who laid the rail
adv. phr.— «The way we glibly toss the word, pastern, at you, you’d think we were and old pastern man from who laid the rail.» —“Sports Roundup” by Joe Williams Syracuse Herald-Journal (New York) July 27, 1940. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...